


first impressions are important

by EasyPeasyPanic



Series: all of my founders era fics [25]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, First Meetings, Fist Fights, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Requested fic, Team Dynamics, Team Tobirama, even this young, these kids are still feral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25775230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EasyPeasyPanic/pseuds/EasyPeasyPanic
Summary: Whatever Tobirama was expecting when he first met his genin students, it wasn't this.Nothing could have prepared him for this.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama & Team Tobirama
Series: all of my founders era fics [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718458
Comments: 9
Kudos: 123





	first impressions are important

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MaskedQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaskedQueen/gifts).



> The request: "could you write about the tobirama's team either meeting tobirama for the first time or how they became his team?"
> 
> And boy did I make that happen

* * *

It takes about twenty minutes for final dismissal of the second graduating Academy class, just to sort out final words of wisdom and read off assigned teams. Tobirama isn't nervous, although he does glance outside the window towards the sky to watch the sun-- there is a clock in this empty classroom, it had been required though it was inaccurate-- only to find no change. He wasn't nervous. He was  _ not  _ nervous. In all of the situations that Tobirama had been in that might have required that emotion, or perhaps something closer towards fear, he had managed to keep himself steady and put-together. He is managing  _ whatever _ he is feeling in this moment  _ very well _ . 

His heart was fluttering some, but Tobirama disregarded that as nothing more than remaining adrenaline from his brother's unnecessary cuddling this morning.  _ Your very first genin team, Tobira-ma! I'm so excited for you. You're getting so big! _ As if Tobirama had been a small child going on his first mission, rather than a very grown adult receiving his first set of students. If all went well, within five years he would have graduated those children into full-fledged shinobi and moved onto his next team. So no, Tobirama wasn't apprehensive about meeting these children-- he had hand picked them after all, hadn't he? He knew their names, their grades and recommendations, even their friendships with their fellow students. It didn't matter if they liked him, it was his duty to train and prepare them as capable shinobi. He knew everything about these children that he needed to be an effective teacher so--

Tobirama flinches, just a bit, when there's a sudden rapt at the door. He glances at the clock that had-- though still set to the wrong time-- moved quite a bit. He must have lost track of time. The door slides open with a soft rattle, and a chūnin instructor poked his head inside. 

"Tobirama-sama?" He addressed, glancing backwards out of the room for a moment. Most likely at the children he was escorting, and the Senju straightens up his gait. "I'm here with your students. I believe there is some sort of mistake made, the roster says you have six genin under your care?" 

"That's correct," Tobirama replies evenly as the man shuffled through the papers in his folder. The chūnin raises an eyebrow in question, with a strange look on his face. The man's chakra shifted wildly, and Tobirama fought off the urge to question him. "I decided to take on two teams, for efficiency purposes. We don't have enough genin instructors. I picked these six as my own." 

The chūnin jolted back, as if he had been struck. "You  _ picked  _ these kids?" He asked, incredulous. 

Tobirama isn't exactly sure why he becomes so defensive, but he feels suddenly offended and attacked. 

"Is there a problem?" 

"Of course not," The chūnin stepped aside, motioning his hand until a couple of kids started shuffling inside the classroom. "Well, my job is finished. These are the last graduates to meet their teacher. Good luck, you'll need it, Tobirama-sama." 

Which came out a little ominous, but Tobirama didn't really acknowledge that. Luck wasn't necessary when he had all the skills to be an efficient teacher. He must have thought that Tobirama was a novice, but he did have some experience teaching the Senju children before the village was founded. It wasn't like he was out of his element! Children were easy enough, especially trained shinobi that understood duty and responsibility. The door slides back shut with a loud rattle, the chūnin instructor's chakra  _ bursting  _ with some sort of positivity. 

He turns to the genin, all of them shorter and fatter than he imagined. They should be nine, maybe ten if Tobirama remembers their files right. All big-eyes and round cheeks, short and compact with their new forehead protectors across their heads, staring up at him with a range of emotion. 

"It's nice to meet you all," Tobirama begins his introduction, leaning down to get closer to their level. "My name is Senju Tobirama, and I'm going to be your instructor for the next few years. I know this number of you isn't traditional, but we had a large graduating class this year. I tried to keep you together with your friends, to make this easier." 

Good. Short and effective. Just as Tobirama had practiced before he went to sleep the night prior. 

One of the kids raised their hands, all dark eyes and thick black curls. "I'm Uchiha Kagami." He introduced, with one hand on his hip. There was a proud glint in his eyes and a softness that Tobirama hadn't seen in many Uchiha. "And  _ this  _ is my best friend Shimura Danzou." He points at another dark-haired boy with wild hair that fell across his eyes. 

"It's nice to meet you--"

"He's in love with you." Kagami announces proudly, shoving the other boy with his elbow and smiling. 

The Shimura scrambles, his hands waving in the air. "No, I'm not! He's just being-- being a--" There was a profanity there, except the boy either didn't know any curse words or he wasn't going to say it in front of him, but Tobirama understood the sentiment. 

Uchiha Kagami doesn't stop his teasing, "He  _ like-likes  _ you. And he's really happy you're our teacher." 

"Stop!" Shimura Danzou sputters out. "I just-- I admire you, Tobirama-sama." 

"Loves you." 

" _ Stop _ !"

He tries to navigate past the sudden (and confusing) declaration of love, turning to one of the other kids for a distraction. "And you are…?"

"Sarutobi Hiruzen." He glanced at the flustered boy and the grinning Uchiha. "Danzou's my best friend too, but I'm not afraid to punch him or Kagami in the face." He said with such a serious tone that Tobirama had to give him a once over to make sure he was joking. Alright, that was...good? At least their personal relationships wouldn't affect their sparring?

"I'd like to see you  _ try _ and hit me." Kagami replies, shrugging and looking uninterested. He had the same confidence as a seasoned shinobi that had earned his life through years of battle and bloodshed instead of the squishy-faced nine year old he was meant to be. That didn't bode well. 

The Akimichi boy rolled his eyes, "Please don't start fighting. I don't want to lose our new teacher on the first day." He pleads, shaking his head and looking consolingly at Tobirama. "I'm Torifu. They're actually really nice! They aren't even bad--"

"Yes, they are." The girl cut in, crossing her arms against her chest. Next to her, a boy with glasses clung to her side, the tallest out of all of them but he wouldn't meet his eyes. "I'm Utatane Koharu."

"Utatane?" 

"Civilian family." She answered, annoyed. As if she'd been asked that a dozen times, and perhaps she had been. The concept of civilian shinobi was  _ new _ , although not widely accepted. However, Hashirama's mandate required inclusion of first generation shinobi. "And this is Mitokado Homura, a civilian kid too. And they are really bad. Can we get new teammates?"

"Aw, but Koharu, you  _ love _ me." Sarutobi Hiruzen protested, one arm wrapped around Shimura Danzou's shoulders as the shorter boy fought him off. 

"Stop touching me!"

Uchiha Kagami swatted the Sarutobi boy's arms away from the short kid, shaking his head. "Stop touching him." He told him,  _ just  _ as he laid his own arm over Shimura's shoulders and yanked him close. "You're ruining this moment for him. This is the first time he's met Tobirama-sama face to face."

"You're ruining all of this for me." Danzou whines, sounding suspiciously close to being a little kid. His cheeks were a bright red, as if Tobirama were staring at his sister-in-law's bright Uzumaki hair. "He's not going to want us as students. And I-- I don't want to lose…" His words stop and he flounders, looking away. 

Torifu sighed  _ loudly _ , far too exhausted for such a young kid, "Nobody's going to want us as students." He pointed at the closed door. "Even Itsuki-sensei was happy to get rid of us. He's taking Hiroto-sensei to dinner to celebrate, I heard him." 

Koharu perked up, "Did you hear where they're going? If they're  _ that _ happy, somebody should spoil it for them." She looked far too pleased by the idea of going after the Academy teacher, and suddenly Tobirama feels like he's out of his depth and a little confused. He needs to get them back on track. 

"Let's go over my expectations for you all. We should make appropriate goals for each of you, alongside my rules. Starting with your behavior. I want all of us to--"

But suddenly there's some soft bickering between his students that turns into a full blown screaming match. In those few moments where he took his attention off them, they decided to start a fight. 

"Take it back! My hair does not look like a bird's nest!"

"I'm not! It does so look like a bird's--" And suddenly Sarutobi Hiruzen (and isn't that just a name that is far too long and far too difficult to keep remembering) has his face pressed right against the Uchiha boy's while the Akimichi and Shimura try to seperate them. Danzou looks near hysterical, glancing up at Tobirama every few seconds like he might just run away if the Shimura boy didn't keep an eye on him. Tobirama stares back at him, stupidly.

"--guys, please just stop!"

"Stay out of it, Dan!"

"Hey, don't yell at him!"

"Don't tell me what to do! At least I don't always smell like a wet monkey." Uchiha Kagami is absolutely nose-to-nose with the Sarutobi boy, so close their foreheads were brushing. "And I think a squirrel could beat a monkey in a fight. There, I said it." 

Before Tobirama could even think to stop it, Akimichi Torifu shoved all of his other students out of the way as Sarutobi decided to tackle Kagami to the ground. They hit the floor with a starting roll, the empty desks clattering as they're thrown out of the way by two squirming bodies. Arms and legs fly wildly, and Tobirama is too stunned by the wrestling to think to get between them. The civilian girl, Koharu, begins laughing and cheering them both on as Kagami kicks Sarutobi across the classroom, except his victory is short-lived when the boy comes for his knees, arms wrapping around him and taking Kagami down with a loud  _ smack _ . 

"Use your fireball jutsu." The kid with the glasses calls out--  _ Homura _ . Tobirama thinks for a moment that the Uchiha won't listen, or perhaps doesn't know the technique. The Uchiha don't tend to teach such a chakra-depleting technique to their younger children, however the boy's hands start shifting through signs.  _ Oh _ \--

He comes to his senses quickly after. 

"Do  _ not _ ! Stop now." Tobirama orders, which gets the attention turned to him for a moment. Only a moment before Sarutobi accidentally steps back, stepping on Shimura Danzou's foot and the boy cries out. Without hesitating, the boy smacks Saru across the floor, and he lands ungracefully on his bottom.

"Ow." He mutters, rubbing his face, giving them all a betrayed stare. Nearby, Kagami beams, as if he's somehow won that fight. Tobirama grapples for control of the situation, but he feels dumbstruck and more nervous than before. No, not nervous.  _ Irritated  _ and exhausted.

"Why would you think that it was a good idea to start a fire inside a wooden building?" He demands. "And why would you even attack each other? I don't understand."

"Because sometimes you  _ have to _ punch Hiruzen." Kagami said sweetly. "And wood isn't even flame-- flame--"

"Flammable?"

"Right, thanks Dan. Flammable." 

Tobirama's lips twitch into a small smile. He crouches down onto their level, already feeling a headache building beneath his temples. 

"That's very wrong. Wood is highly flammable, so we're not going to set fires inside wooden buildings, understood?"

" _ Understood _ ." 

"How often does this happen?" He asks the Akimichi boy because that kid seemed the most responsible out of them all. 

Torifu gives him a strange look. 

"A lot." He tilts his head, thinking it over. "Sometimes it's Danzou and Hiruzen fighting, though? Kagami doesn't usually, but he must be excited about our new team."

Tobirama nodded, turning his attention to the Sarutobi as Kagami helped him up off the ground. He examined both boys, although he didn't see much damage on either one. A few scuffed sandals and a light bruise forming here and there. "Is anyone injured from that fight?"

A small hand rose. 

"We need to get some tape to fix Homura's glasses. They were broken in the fight."

Tobirama fought down a loud sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Homura wasn't even  _ in  _ the fight." But sure enough, the boy had two seperate pieces of glass and metal in his hands, and he's blinking at the Senju rapidly. 

"But they're still broken." Homura said mournfully, chewing his lip. "My mom is going to be so  _ angry _ ." He mutters, right when Saru patted his back encouragingly. 

"We'll find some tape." Saru said, and everyone else joined in their encouragement. Tobirama sighed, at least they had some sense of teamwork when they weren't fighting each other. He wanted to scream and give them back, almost, but that would be admitting defeat. He refused to give back his first team, especially when brother wouldn't live it down. 

Kagami's still smiling. 

"I think that has been a pretty good meeting, Tobirama-sensei." 

And then his nerves seem to settle as it finally comes to him like he's been punched in the chest.  _ Sensei _ . He truly can't fight a smile off his face as he watches them search for something to repair their teammate's glasses. He's their teacher, which to be fair, doesn't sound as wonderful as it did before at the moment, but these kids are still his students either way. He's going to teach them, hopefully some sort of serenity and obedience, and how to be proper shinobi. He's going to take them into battle, into the field, and he's going to be responsible for these children's lives. They're  _ his _ now. His vicious, very strange students. He's their sensei, and he truthfully can't fight back the swell of pride inside his chest as the thought of watching these children (with short legs and small hands and big eyes) grow into adults, something that didn't often happen before. He hadn't even been able to watch his own brothers grow to that age, and they had died only a few years younger than these kids.  _ His students.  _

Finally he speaks, "You all are going to be the death of me." Tobirama says with certainty, but he's still smiling at them. 

* * *


End file.
